Holiday cheer in shorter supply for Dems: poll
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Spending the holidays with family and friends may be more of an emotional wringer this year if you're a Democrat or independent, according to the latest Axios-Ipsos American Health Index.
Why it matters: While an overwhelming majority of Americans say their emotional well-being is good, our first polling since the elections shows those who didn't vote for President-elect Trump appear to be bracing for added strife.
Driving the news: In the poll of 1,002 adults taken between Dec. 6 and Dec. 9, roughly half of all respondents said spending time with friends or family at the holidays didn't affect how stressed they felt, echoing prior polls.
- But dig a little deeper and there's a big split in those answers: More than 61% of Democrats said spending time with family or friends during the holidays makes them more stressed out. Independents are right behind them at 60%.
- Meanwhile, 39% of Republicans said the same.
Democrats appear likelier to be searching for holiday cheer after a fractious election and GOP trifecta.
- Nearly 1 in 5 Democrats (17%) said their emotional health was poor whereas 7% of Republicans said the same.
But overall, more than 8 in 10 respondents (84%) said their emotional well-being was very or somewhat good — a sign that election anxiety, too many, may have been temporary, or hasn't left lasting scars.
- "For all the gnashing of teeth since the election, people are rating their mental health virtually the same as earlier this year," Ipsos pollster and senior vice president Chris Jackson told Axios.
- "There may have been high anxiety in the electoral context but generally there has not been any change."
The big picture: A recent Harris Poll of more than 2,000 adults conducted for the American Psychological Association found more than 2 out of 5 adults aged 44 and younger are skipping holiday gatherings because of political differences.
- Three quarters of all adults (72%) said they hoped to avoid discussing politics with family this holiday season.
- 83% of respondents said they saw the holidays as a time to put political differences aside — although among those whose candidate lost, that figure was slightly lower (82%.)
The bottom line: Pass the potatoes — and pass on the political talk — this year.
Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Poll was conducted Dec. 6-9 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,002 general population adults age 18 or older.
- The margin of sampling error is ±3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.
